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Story : The Tri-Covenant Trip
A Grand Exit Mnemosyne opened the door to her tower and stood, framed in the archway of her door at the top of the flight of stairs which swept up towards her. Her cloak billowed around her in the blustery chill of the dawn. With an imperious and proprietary gaze she surveyed the domain which her view encompassed, considering the changes which had come into being over the last year. Though a few other structures had appeared on the mountain top, the area was still wide and open, rocky and bare. The sparseness of it struck Mnemosyne then, as one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The pale dawn light suffusing the landscape with colour, washing up over the ever-present layer of clouds which boiled and swirled around the plateau like an ocean without end. Towers in the clouds mimicked her own, fluffy alabaster valleys gave the illusion of paths leading off the Mynd. The ever changing landscape was a thing of wonder and natural beauty. Even in the mundane, clouds were often interesting and attractive. Here, deep in a magical regio though, they were a thing of heart stopping artistry. They were all the more wonderful when compared to the dull grey of the mountain. The rocks and occassional struggling lichen, or dwarfed shrub did nothing to soften the bluntness of the third layer of the Mynd. An ugly fist thrust up through into this perfect world. But perhaps not a violation, perhaps more of a contrast. Mnemosyne's eyes flicked back and forth around her tower to where she had planted some upright sticks, marking off some of the area for a use. She nodded to herself. She had made the right decision. It was perhaps foolish to take on another project when so many others were taking her time, but the bleak landscape outside her tower windows had begun to wear upon her. While her tower itself was not finished to her satisfaction, she had decided that cultivating some kind of garden around her dwelling was a good thing and she would somehow find the time to tend it away from her schedule of study, service and duty which filled her days. Perhaps in time it could be a welcome diversion from such things on the occasions she could escape them, a harbour where she could refresh herself pottering amongst a quiet and mindless form of life, and let the cares of magical formula, the law, and politics fall away for a time. Yes, Mnemosyne smiled as gazed over what she saw. She saw beauty, subtle and glorious. She saw progress and hard work. She saw the realisation of a dream. But more than that, she saw the future, and would hold it in her hand. Timing it to perfection, she retrieved her travel bag from inside the tower and swung the door shut, locking it behind her just as a servant appeared bearing a breakfast for the mistress of the high tower. Striking a pose, she flung her arms out from her sides, palms raised and fingers wrestling the power from the air. With a voice which cut with the chill morning air like a hot knife, she cracked out some words in latin and sent them rolling against the tower, echoing back behind her. Theatrically she whirled about and snatched up her bag, staring imperiously down the stairs to see, as she had expected, the upturned and wide eyed face of the servant. Sweeping down the stairs, her cloak fluttering out behind her, she reached the nervous man, who had not wanted to interrupt whatever strange working the startling woman had been about. She met his gaze, and in that moment his mind was hers. Her blue eyes bored into his, and without even a word or a gesture - not the slightest whisper, nor the vaguest flick of the fingers - her mind took hold of his, her will alone forging the bond of magic. The moment continued for a moment longer perhaps, then Mnemosyne looked away, content that the spell had taken hold. The servant would have a slightly different memory now of what he had just seen, but close enough to be eminently believable, and while the memory itself would not last the day, he would be sure to repeat it to others and that memory would not fade, for either the teller or listener. "Come," she said, in somewhat of a more gentle tone than she usually used when addressing the smallfolk. "I have sealed the tower with wards till my return. It is not healthy for us to linger here. I will take my breakfast below, in the main hall. Please take it on ahead, I must confer with Master Ambrosius before I break my fast." Mnemosyne smiled in satisfaction as the man hurried off, with only a single look back at the tower. Her words would have reinforced the memory he had of strange lights wrapping themselves around her tower, and a feeling of dread as he approached. In truth, the changes were so minor they were probably not needed and the servant's natural imagination and the nature of gossip would have altered her theatrics accordingly, but she liked to be sure. Her tower would not be disturbed in her her absence, at least not by the covenfolk. Last Minute Instructions A few minutes later, Mnemosyne was knocking at Ambrosius' door. She suspected he was already up and awake, but if not it was just tough luck. She wanted to make full use of the day, and it was already past sun-up. It was Llewys who answered the door, however, dressed and looking ready to depart - more or less - to Mnemosyne's approval. "Ah, Llewys. A Good morning to you," she greeted the young man. "Are you ready to depart?" The twelve-year old's eyes flashed with barely contained eagerness, but he composed himself before answering. "I am, Maga Mnemosyne. I await only your guidance and direction," he said formally. "A word with your brother, first, I believe though," the maga said. "He is about, isn't he?" "Yes, Maga. I will get him for your." Llewys disappear up the stairs, taking them two at a time, vanishing from sight. A muted conversation drifted down the stairs as the younger brother presumably filled in the older. In short order, Llewys returned, followed closely by Ambrosius. Mnemosyne laid a hand on Llewys' shoulder. "I will take good care of him, Amicus, and bring him back safely. He will benefit greatly from this trip." She smiled at Ambrosius. It was the rather more genuine smile which contained some emotion in it, rather than the cold one she so often used in Council. "I now assume Llewys' guardianship until we return, and of course, Llewys shall accept my instruction and uphold my good name and the name of Mons Obscurus with all honour." She locked gazes with the boy, her unnerving piercing gaze drilling into his soul - or at least bring a prickle of sweat out under his arms. "Is that not so, lad?" "Yes, Maga." he dutifully responded. Ambrosius addressed Mnemosyne. "Maga, I know I do not need to stress how important to me Llewys's safety is, and I trust that you will do everything in your power to ensure he remains safe. There is one thing that weighs heavily upon me..." Ambrosius paused, seeking the correct words. "You and I have not seen eye to eye on some items, but you have been a staunch ally when I needed one..." Again, he paused uncomfortably. "I've never made it a secret that I am uncomfortable with how willing you are to manipulate the minds of others, and frankly, that is your business to address as you see fit. When it comes to Llewys, however, his safety is my concern. To that end, I would appreciate your word that you will not influence his mind unduly." Mnemosyne smiled in genuine amusement. "Do not fear, my friend. I will go you one better and refrain from using magic of any kind on your brother, unless strictly necessary. He will be in good hands and it is my pleasure to help you both." She smiled again at him in a casual way, which she showed rather rarely, but then a moment later she was back to business. "Ambrosius, I entrust you with my sigil while I am away," Mnemosyne said as she handed over her twisted wand and a folded and sealed paper. "Please use it to support the proposed amendment to the Charter which I have detailed in that paper. It is in regard to the library of Schola Strettonis, and I have passed a copy to Marcus as well. You are of course, free to use your own vote as you will. Otherwise, I ask you to use my vote in the best interests of the Covenant and our general well-being, as your conscience dictates. If Marcus is absent from the Council this Summer as well, then the situation could be somewhat odd - however, no Greater Votes can take place, save from the one which I have already in sping waived the need to attend. The school library." "Of course, Maga. I shall perform my duties as your proxy with honor and consideration." "Very well, my friend," Mnemosyne smiled once more. "I will see you on my return. Be well and be safe." She nodded at Llewys. "You have the time it takes for me to break my fast to get ready. Don't be late, lad." With a final smile, she turned and walked briskly back across the plateau to the way down the common areas of the Covenant, her cloak fluttering in the breeze, wrapped about her and the sun catching her wheat-coloured hair in a soft golden crown. Ambrosius watched her go as Llewys darted back up the stairs to secure his travelling gear, staff included. Ambrosius wondered briefly which season will seem more empty - his season amongst the water elementals or this season, without his brother's constant presence. A Hurried Breakfast Mnemosyne ate breakfast in the great hall, unusually. She was not sure how many of the other magi ate there regularly, but she suspected few from the looks she was getting. Mnemosyne vaguely wondered what life would be like if her gift were more like Marcus'. Then she considered how life would be if she were one of the unfortunate magi whose gift affected others like a sledgehammer. Fortunately, there were none of those at Mons Obscurus. The looks she was getting from some of the smallfolk when the thought she did not notice were enough. Mnemosyne did not find it difficult to remember why she generally preferred to dine alone. However, she did manage to have several short conversations before Llewys appeared. A quick word to Fergus about some of his summer duties, a thank you to Gertrude for her good work and clip round the ear for Wirt for staring at her in a funny way. Geraldous allayed her worries and informed her that all was ready - in fact more than ready. The shield grog was as reliable as ever. She even managed to catch Marcus. Seeing the magus pass by on his own business, Mnemosyne quickly intercepted him with a copy of her ammendments she had already passed to Ambrosius and explained that it was merely for reference as she had asked her proxy to propose the motion in her stead. After a quick admonishment for the Jerbiton to take care in his own travels over the summer and God speed to him, she took her leave and went to meet Geraldous and Llewys. If you want to do a more detailed conversation, Jeff, that's fine. Feel free to change the details and location of you do. Otherwise, I'll cut this note out at some point down the tracks.--Perikles 07:28, 2 May 2007 (UTC) The First Leg "We head first to Blackthorne Covenant," began Mnemosyne. "Which is located in Southern Wales. I suggest the best route is to to drop down along the Mynd until we join up with the main road, rather further along than the Strettons and from there work our south and west into Wales when we can. What do you say, Llewys? Has the aspiring Redcap studied the route ahead? Or from Geraldous? I understand you have been learning a thing or two about Wales recently." Llewys looked excitedly between Mnemosyne and Geraldous for permission to speak. When receiving it, he said, "I have studied the map available to us, Maga, as well as spoken with those that have been to the area recently or know the areas." His eyes shown, eager and ready, as he spoke. "There will be a time where we will have to choose speed or convenience." Llewys went on, clearly pleased to be the source for information for these two adults. He described the landmarks he'd been told to look for, when they applied. Arrival at Blackthorne Five days later the three travellers found themselves approaching the famous covenant, seat of the Stonehenge Tribunal. Mnemosyne had already run through several admonishments to Llewys on how to behave in a circumspect manner during his visit, as not all magi were as friendly as his brother or herself - seemingly unaware of any irony in that statement. She'd also taken the time to pass along a few tidbits of Hermatic wisdom which seemed to be useful relating to visiting other covenants. Cogniscant that her own lore was not up to much, she cautioned the lad that what she was telling him was a guideline only, and that undoubtedly his own knowledge of such things would swiftly overshadow her own during his apprenticeship. In the mean time though, he would have to be careful not so give accidental offence and end up being transformed into a frog. The best way to do this was to stay out of sight and thought of the magi. The covenfolk on the other hand were a totally different matter and she encouraged him to mingle with them as they could no doubt provide valuable insights and it would be good for him to have another covenant to compare Mons Obscurus with. She also suggested to Geraldous that he should keep his eyes and ears open while he hung out with the Blackthorne turb. Getting this far had not been difficult. A couple of days of travel in England had brought them to the River Severn, where they had arranged passage across into Wales. From there, things had been a bit slower as their directions were hazier and the language barrier started to become a problem. Fortunately, Mnemosyne was easily able to compensate and all it would take was her to meet a passing peasant's gaze, or that of a local villager, and she was effortlessly and silently able to lift the information she needed - assuming it was there - from their mind and continue on with none the wiser. In this way she traced their way first to the Black Mountains, then when closer she lifted increasingly more accurate directions to the covenant of Blackthorne itself. All done with a silent and gestureless glance, those giving her information were never even aware of it and she left no memory of strangers asking odd questions to suspicious places, not to mention appearing increasingly confident of their route as they drew closer to her two companions. So it was, a little late in the afternoon of their third day of travel in Wales they had been making their way up a green and sparsely wooded valley, following a narrow cart trail when shortly after passing an old woman gathering fallen boughs for firewood, Mnemosyne announced that they had arrived and their destination was a certain mountain on the other side of the river. A little casting around and a ford in the river was found and an old, but not quite so well travelled cart trail led away and in the direction they wanted. This was the path to Blackthorne. Beneath the Black Mountains The path wound its way through the foothills of the Black Mountains, picking the easiest grades to climb as it worked up the side of one. After rounding a spur the trail promptly vanished into a rude opening in the face. The cave entrance lurked beneath a slight overhang and appeared rather dark within. Mnemosyne cast around for some sign or mark around the cave entrance which might have meaning, but failed to find such a thing. She also could see no signs of guards or warders, which she hoped to see by now, or even covenfolk. She knew that Blackthorne lay in caves, but she had presumed that part of the covenant would be above ground and that there would be outlying sections. Either she was wrong, or this was not the right place. However, further examination made it clear that the cart trail did indeed vanish into the cave. This being so, it could only mean that someone regularly hauled goods back and forth from this place. Taking a rock and banging it sharply against the wall of the cave beyond the entrance produced an echo, and her Latin greeting did the same. There was no response though, and after a while, it seemed clear that if they were not going to turn back, they should proceed. Retrieving a comfortable stick from outside, Mnemosyne put to use her improved understanding of Creo and loudly and ostentatiously conjured light upon it, which would last until the sun set or released the stick. With the makeshift torch ready, the travellers proceeded slowly into the cave's embrace. Within a short distance of the entrance, the pebbly soil which had betrayed the presence of carts gave out and the floor was as rocky and barren as the cave roof arching above them. The light from the stick lit up the chamber such that stark shadows crept about with each sway of her hand and crystals of mica in the rocks glittered as if dusted of minuscule stars. Although the walls of the cave did bow and twist to some insane design, there was but one way forward through the dark. The travellers passed through a couple of rocky chambers, and into a third. This last chamber was long and narrowed as it proceeded without losing any of its height. Here and there, great pillars of some peculiar flowstone reached down from the ceiling to splay themselves upon the cave floor, and in places the upper and lower portions were parted as though the middle had waisted away, and the water trickling down was made to drop a distance betwixt them. A brisk visual investigation of the long chamber revealed that it had no other exits. Indeed, under the bright glare of the light from Mnemosyne's stick, they were certain they had not seen any side-tunnels of more note than the cracks through which water did seep. While Geraldous and Llewys poked around the third cave to see if there was anything of interest, Mnemosyne pondered the puzzle. One glaring possibility, which was possibly more obvious to her than it would be to others who did not live in such a unique location, was that Blackthorne had certain qualities in common with Mons Obscurus. As far as she was concerned, and comments from Longinus not withstanding, a regio was a most desirable place to locate a covenant. It would make sense that one of, if not the, most powerful covenant in the Tribunal would be located in one of its own. Of course, she had not heard anything about Blackthorne and a regio, but as the maga had told Llewys earlier on the trip, her Hermetic Lore was not her strongest point. Once the others had finished their poking around and failed to turn up a hidden covenant under a stone, or behind an interesting rock formation, Mnemosyne returned to the cave entrance. Closer to the outside, the floor would be hard packed dirt for a way. Earth was easily tracked about, leaves blow into places, rot and become mulch and so on. She began to search for signs of where the cart tracks ended, abruptly. With any luck, this would give her a clue as to where the regio boundary was, and from there it would make it easier for her to see through it. Having spend so much time inside a regio, and having some experience with them now, she felt confident that if there was one there, she would find it. Her theory was sound in principle, and she did indeed find a goodly quantity of detritus in the first, and to a lesser extent, the second chambers. By the third, long chamber, the air was sufficiently still and damp as to begin to sap at the spirit. Regardless, Mnemosyne walked around the room with her light held before her, scrutinising ever whisper of dirt. Towards the end of the chamber, she noticed a fragment of dirt which was rough, dry, compressed, but with the upperside perfectly smooth, flat, and describing a slight arc - a cart had shed the dirt here. Looking thereabouts, she found a couple more places where the dirt had fallen, giving weight to her belief. It occurred to Mnemosyne that perhaps the covenant was not hidden in some regio at all, but by a veil of illusion. She would investigate that more thoroughly later though. In the mean time she concentrated on piercing the barrier between the worlds with her second sight. She generally preferred to follow things through in a logical and methodical order, rather than jump around intuitively and possibly miss something along the way. This of course did not mean she would not be on the look out for anything else strange. While she spent her time staring fixedly into thin air, trying to spot something which after all might not be there, she directed Geraldous and Llewys to see if they could determine whether or not the walls were solid. "I suggest tossed pebbles," she offered. "Imagonem magic may fool you, but a thrown rock has the advantage of no mind of senses to befuddle." With that she returned to her task until she felt satisfied that this particular avenue of investigation was not leading anywhere. Llewys took to the task with enthusiasm only a 12 year old could generate, making it some kind of game in his mind. A handful of pebbles and stones gather from about the cavern, he began tossing them to each side of the passage way as he walked back the way they'd come. The pebbles clattered off the walls as Llewys began to work his way around the end wall of the cave, testing various points. Eventually, he was satisfied that what looked, felt, and sounded like rock was indeed such, and turned his attention to the walls to the left and right. After several diameters had passed, Llewys noticed that pebbles thrown at a fairly large patch of the wall to their right didn't bounce off the same way - they dropped to the floor somewhat sooner than he had come to expect. Noticing his interest, Geraldous drew his weapon and hit the wall in a couple of places and was not overly surprised when it seemed to bite into the stone. Following Geraldous's lead, Llewys took the ironshod end of the walking staff his brother had crafted for him upon the occasion of leaving for what would later become Mons Obscura, and pounded it soundly upon the stone wall. He was suprised to find that while it did look and sound in every way like rock, there was not the jarring sensation of cracking iron against stone, but rather a softer impact as though he was striking something like wood. Excited by the prospect of a hidden door, the lad set his staff leaning against the good wall, and began feeling the suspect stone to see if he could uncover a latch or mechanism to show the way through. As Mnemosyne pondered this, Llewys spoke, "Maga Mnemosyne," he said politely. "When I was speaking with the red cap before we left, he said something about a secret door being hidden in the caves. I didn't know what he meant then, but..." he let his voice trail of expectantly. "Well remembered, Llewys," Mnemosyne praised. "I cannot prove a negative, but I have been unable to find any sign of a regio here and the physical evidence seems to go against it. If there was one, I would expect the boundary to be either at the cave entrance or between the caves themselves where natural barriers lie. A hidden door would seem to be a logical next avenue of investigation to pursue. Maybe you can find some mundane mechanism to open the way, or failing that, perhaps a way to signal the occupants. If not, then we must consider the possibility that there is a hidden door, but it is hidden or accessed in part, or fully, with the Art. However, we shall take this one step at a time." Mnemosyne made no particular move to aid Llewys in his physical search. She did however make sure she was standing close enough to have plenty of light, and followed his progress with interest. Her gaze wandered from time to time across the stone face. The entrance would have to be wide and tall enough to allow a cart to pass, so was probably more in the order of some kind of sliding wall than a door. If it was a purely mundane creation, then she doubted it would be particularly difficult to find for the determined searcher. If it was a mundane creation, augmented by magic though, that could make it more difficult. Most difficult of all would be if it was a purely magical construct. While she watched over Llewys' progress, she considered the likelihood that only magi could open the way, if it could be opened from the inside only, if covenfolk would need some kind of talisman to pass, and various other possibilities. For now, she merely acknowledged the possibilities and ranked them in order of worthiness of investigation, and tried to avoid making speculation without fact which could prejudice the investigation. Llewys and Geraldous continued to probe the area til quite abruptly, the stone in that area seemed to fade away to reveal a large and heavy set of double doors. Each door bore a small slit at head height which was glazed. In the light from Mnemosyne's stick, Geraldous thought he could make out a pair of eyes looking through at them. Then, there came the heavy sounds of the door being unbarred. "Well done," the maga congratulated. "You've found the front door. Now get back and be on your best behavior. Being Blackthorne, they should be used to a fair amount if visitors, but be careful in any case." Mnemosyne herself stood a few paces back and out of the way of the doors. She was not sure if they would swing outwards or inwards, but either way it was better to position oneself at an effective distance for a first impression. Continued Next page: Meeting at Blackthorne. ----